Oscillating tie bar inserts



United States Patent 3,083,621 4/1963 Woolley 94/39 3,334,559 8/1967Taylor 94/39 3,443,495 5/1969 Heltzel 94/39 3,463,061 8/1969 Dill 94/39Primary Examiner-Nile C. Byers, Jr. Attorney-Sughrue, Rothwell, Mion,Zinn and Macpeak ABSTRACT: A tie bar insertion device is mounted on aslip form paver of the type which moves continuously forward relative tothe pavement being formed, The tie bars are positioned on a guide railand support table so as to properly align them with associated holes ina key strip which is being positioned in engagement with one edge of thepavement being formed. A pusher bar is mounted in an angled positionrelative to the key strip and moves in a continuous, orbital fashion bymeans of two eccentrically mounted sprocket wheels arranged on each endof the pusher and driven by a common motor. The pusher barsimultaneously pushes a plurality of tie bars into the plastic concretein a step-by-step fashion as the slip form paver continuously movesalong the roadway being formed.

Patented Sept. 29, 1970 Sheet INVENITOR MICHAEL l. HUDIS 2. u u a:

gyszyg wh iw ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 29, 1970 Z of 3 Sheet MICHAEL I.HUDIS ATTORNEYS OSCILLATING TIE BAR INSERTS CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHERAPPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part of applicationSer.No.736,623,filed.lune13,1968.

BACKGOUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This inventionrelates to an apparatus designed to operate with or ahead of acontinuously moving slip form paver and to insert at spaced intervalsbent tie bars into the concrete pavement.

2. Description of the Prior Art In construction of roads and highways,concrete slabs are arranged in side-by-side relation wherein the slabsare connected along their abutting side edges through the use of keysand key slots at the abutting side edges of adjacent concrete slabs. Tierods are often mounted in conjunction with the key slots to preventseparation of the slabs. Present highway construction practice providesfor the forming of key slots by positioning a mold or key strip to theinterface of the road form. The tie bars are then positioned such thathalf of the bar extends into the formed slabs and the other half of thebar is bent approximately 90 and hidden within the key slots on theinner face of the road form. When the cast slab has hardened, the keystrips may be removed after the tie bars are straightened to provide thedesired connection between adjacent abutting slabs. In these prior artmethods, where the roads were formed section by section, the tie barscould be inserted individually in the proper location by manual means.Much present highway construction utilizes modern and faster continuouspaving machines such as those known as slip form pavers. Through the useof a slip form paver, the concrete slab is formed in an automaticcontinuous fashion rather than by individual sections. Therefore, priorart methods of forming sectioned key joints and of placing the tie barsthrough the key joints into the pavement being formed are entirelyinadequate in that the advantages of speed and simplicity in using aslip form paver are defeated.

, SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides an apparatus forautomatically and continuously positioning tie bars into unhardenedconcrete pavement, preferably through holes provided therefor in acontinuously formed key joint which is positioned in engagement with anedge face of the concrete slab being formed by a slip form paver in acontinuous fashion. The apparatus includes an orbital moving pusher barwhich operates by means of eccentrically mounted sprocket wheels tosimultaneously engage a plurality of tie bars a stroke at a time therebypushing successive tie bars into the concrete pavement as the slip formpaving machine moves continuously over the road bed relative to theformed concrete slab. The apparatus preferably cooperates with acontinuously formed key joint by aligning the tie bars in holes whichwere formed in the key joint as it was being shaped and positionedrelative to the continuously formed concrete slab. The tie bar insertionapparatus operates continuously at a speed which is synchronized withthe forward movement of the slip form paver. The pusher bar is mountedat an angle relative to the direction of insertion of the tie bars suchthat the pusher bar simultaneously engages a plurality of the tie bars astroke at a time where each of the tie bars being simultaneously strokedare arranged to a different depth in the pavement such that the last tiebar being stroked has been inserted within the pavement to its completedepth while the first tie bar being stroked is just entering thepavement. Consequently, the apparatus of the present invention providesfor the rapid, efficient and continuous insertion of a plurality of tiebars at theirappropriate locations relative to the continuously formedkey joints thereby overcoming the inadequacies of prior art means of tiebar insertion when used with a continuously moving slip form paver orlike machine.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the tie bar insertion apparatus mounted ona continuous key joint forming apparatus which is attached to the frontend of a slip form paver;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the tie bar insertion apparatusmounted on the key joint forming apparatus;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of the pusher bar and driving assembly;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the pusher bar and driving assembly as in FIG.3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the sprocket wheel and connecting assemblytaken through line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the insertion device taken along line 6-6of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is another embodiment of the chain guard as shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of the pusher bar in relation to the tie barsbeing inserted, and

FIG. 9 is a section taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The right forward portion of theframe 10 of a slip form paver and the forward portion of the right slipform 11 of such paver appear in FIGS. 1 and 2. The hydraulic cylinder 12is one of a series at each side of the slip form paver which connect theframe and the slip forms to adjust the position of the slip forms as isdescribed in copending application Ser. No. 757,448 filed September 4,1968 and entitled Slip Form Paver with Slip Form Release and Seal.

The tie bar insertion apparatus 13 of the present invention is carriedby the frame 16 having a rear bracket 17 which is bolted directly to theforward end of slip form 11. Frame 16 is connected to bracket 17 so thatthe frame can pivot as at 18 whereby frame 16 is vertically adjustableby means of the screw 18a carried by bracket 17.

The brace 20 or frame 16 is provided with the adjustment screw 20a whichabuts the right forward end of frame 10 of the paver. The screws 18a and20a provide for alignment of frame 16 and slip form 11.

The vertical faceplate 21 of frame 16 forms an extension of slip form 11except that plate 21 is provided with the horizontal offset 22 havingthe slot 23 which extends to the rear edge of plate 21. On the side ofplate 21 opposite the concrete, this offset forms a groove. On the sideof plate 21 facing the concrete, this offset forms a correspondinggroove in the side face of the concrete.

The flat key strip stock 26 is delivered from a supply reel 28 which maybe mounted on the frame 16 by means of an inclined reel disc or plate30, as shown in FIG. 2. The supply reel 28 is mounted on disc 30 suchthat a new reel can be easily substituted when the old reel becomesexhausted. The corresponding ends of the new and old key strip stock 26may be joined by welding or the like in order to provide a continuouskey strip passing through the road bed. The key strip stock 26 passesfrom the supply reel 28 through a series of four guides 32, 34, 36 and38 which are secured to and carried by frame 16 in an inclined positioncorresponding to the incline of reel 30. A key strip punch or piercingmeans 43 having a supporting frame 44 carried by frame 16 is disposedbetween guides 32 and 34 to punch holes 45 in key strip stock 26 on thefly." A second series of guides 48, 50 and 52 are arranged in spokelikefashion about central hub 54 so as to guide the key strip stock 26 in ahelical fashion about the front end of the body frame 16. A pair ofguide and support members 56 and a pair of forming roll arrangements 58are all carried by frame 16 and bent stock 26 to form the channeled keystrip 62 which tits and slides within the groove formed by the offset 22of plate 21 of frame 16. A more detailed description of key strip formerand punch is in parent application Ser. No. 736,623, filed June 13,1968.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the tie bar insertion apparatus is rigidlymounted on the body frame 16 and includes a tie bar guide rail 66 whichis in the form of an angle iron having a forward section and a rearsection. The forward section is disposed with one side 67 disposedhorizontally and the other side 67a disposed vertically. Theintermediate section of the angle iron is twisted so that thecorresponding sides 68 and 69 of the rear section of guide rail 66 areslightly inclined. The pusher bar 70 is designed to move in an orbitalfashion as generally indicated at 71. Its associated driving means aremounted in proximity to the inclined section of guide rail 66 andclosely adjacent to an adjustably mounted table 72 which helps support aplurality of tie bars 74 along with the guide rail 66. Each bar 74 has aportion 75 which is bent at 90 for purposes as will appear. The drivingmeans, shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, for the pusher bar 70 include a singlemotor 76 having drive shaft 77 which carries a pair of sprockets 78.Sprockets 78 drive chains 79 which operate over sprocket wheels 80 and81. The sprocket wheels 80 and 81 are attached to the ends of pusher bar70 by means of connecting plates 82 and 84 which are, themselves,secured to the pusher bar by means of a plurality of bolts 85 extendingthrough each of the connecting plates and the pusher bar 70. A supportframe 86 mounts the two sprocket wheels in proper position to each otherand further supports the motor 76 by means of a motor support bracket 88having a base plate 89 which is attached to frame 86 by bolts 91. Thebolts extend through elongated slots 93 in the base plate 89 therebyallowing adjustable positioning of the motor 76 relative to the frame86. The frame 86, itself, is mounted on and above table 72 by means ofsupport blocks 92 to the adjustable table 72.

FIG. shows a cross sectional view of the sprocket wheel 80. Bothsprocket wheels are precisely the same and, consequently, only one willbe described in detail. The sprocket wheel is secured on shaft 94 by nut96 fitting the threaded end portion 98 of shaft 94. An annular spacer100 separates sprocket wheel 80 from upper bearing 104 and spacer 108locates bearing 104 above bearing 106 which is held against the flange110 of shaft 94. Bearings 104 and 106 rotatably support shaft 94 inframe 86. A third ball bearing assembly 112 is mounted immediately belowflange 110 on the eccentric portion 1 14 of shaft 94 and serves torotatably attach connector plate 82 to the lower portion of shaft 94. Anut 115 fits the threaded portion 116 of eccentric portion 114 of shaft94 to secure ball bearing assembly 112 thereon. The plate 82 is mountedon bearing 112 and thereby to the lower portion of shaft 94 by means ofannular retaining rings 120 and 122 which are secured to plate 82 by aseries of bolts 124. Retaining ring 120 has an annular cutaway shoulder126 which partially overlaps and engages a portion of the bearing 112.Similarly, retaining ring 122 overlaps the lower portion of bearing 112, as shown in FIG. 5 such that the bearing and connecting plate 82 aresandwiched between bearing rings 120 and 122 and are thereby mounted toproduce an orbital movement in the plate 82 and push bar 70 uponrotation of shaft 94.

The pusher bar 70 is in a general L-shaped having a lower flange 71attached to the connector plate 82 by a plurality of bolts 85 as shownin FIGS. 3 and 5. The side of the L-shaped pusher bar 70 which facesoutwardly from the sprocket wheels 80 and 81 is disposed to engage thebent portion 75 of the tie rod 74. In FIG. 6, protective means in theform of a cover 128 partially surrounds the sprocket wheels 30 and 81and sprocket chains 78 as shown. The cover 128 also includes a flexibleportion 130 attached to the pusher bar 70.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show that the pusher bar 70, connector plate 82 andthreaded end portion 116 should be properly spaced by blocks 92 toprovide a minimum clearance from table 72 so as to not engage table 72while the pusher bar is in continuing orbital motion.

FIG. 7 shows an alternate cover comprising separate parts 132 and 134.Cover part 132 is secured to table 72 and part 134 is secured to andmoves with pusher bar 70. The margins of parts 132 and 134 which are inoverlapping relation as shown form a slip-type seal to accommodate themovement of pusher bar 70.

In operation, the leg of tie bar 74 to be inserted is supported on table72, the end of the tie bar is inserted in hole 45 of key strip 62, andthe end of bent portion 75 of the tie bar is allowed to rest on side 67of the channel-shaped tie bar support guide rail 66. Both the supportguide rail 66 and pusher bar 70 are arranged in substantially parallelrelationship to each other and angularly positioned relative to the sideof the pavement P. Therefore, it can be seen by FIGS. 1 and 8 that, asthe key joint forming apparatus continuously moves forward relative tothe road bed, the plurality of tie bars 74 will be placed by the guiderail 66 in the desired positions extending through holes 35 in the keystrip 62.

An orbital oscillating motion is imparted to the pusher bar 70 by meansof the eccentrically mounted sprocket wheels and 81 mounted at each endof the pusher bar 70. As shaft 77 of motor 76 rotates, this rotationalforce is communicated to each of the sprocket wheels 80 and 81 by meansof sprocket chain 78. Due to the eccentric 114 of shaft 94, therotational movement of sprocket wheels 80 and 81 imparts an oscillatingor orbital movement to pusher bar 70 such that the pusher bar strokesthe bent portion 75 of a plurality of successively arranged tie bars 74which are manually positioned on the channel-shaped guide rail 66 andtable 72, as shown in FIG. 6.

The orbital motion of the pusher rod is arranged so as to cooperate withthe forward motion of the slip form paver and the key joint formingapparatus with which the insertion ao paratus is associated.

FIG. 8 shows the motion of the pusher bar 70 and the guide rail 66relative to a plurality of tie bars 74. Due to the angular relationshipof the pusher bar 70, a plurality of tie bars 74 may be simultaneouslystroked in a step-by-step fashion into the concrete through holes 45 inthe formed key strip 62. The broken lines 66 and 70 represent the guiderail 66 and pusher bar 70, respectively, as they are moved forward agiven distance A due to the forward movement of the slip form paver.Similarly, the broken lines 74' represent the position of the tie bars74 after they are stroked into the pavement a given distance A. As theslip form paver moves the insertion apparatus a given distance designedby A, the pusher rod 70 will continue to stroke the plurality of tiebars 74 so as to drive them through slot 23 of plate 21 and into thepavement a stroke at a time a given distance A. During this forwardmovement, the tie bars 74 move in sliding engagement relative to theguide rail 66 and are thereby supported on the guide rail 66 and thetable 72 until they are inserted to substantially their entire depthwithin the pavement. The tie bars 74 are fully inserted so that theirbent portions 75 lie within the dimensions of the key strip 62 and canpass bracket 17 as shown in FIG. 9.

The apparatus of the present invention thus provides for insertion ofthe tie bars with a minimum of the operators time.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for inserting tie bars into concrete pavement before thehardening thereof to cooperate with a movable slip-form paving machine,the apparatus comprising:

a. a support frame mounted on the key joint forming device;

b. a tie bar guide rail mounted on said support frame, one portion ofsaid guide rail angularly positioned relative to the direction of travelof said paving machine, whereby said angled portion is so positioned asto properly align a plurality of tie bars relative to pavement beingformed;

c. a pusher bar movably mounted on said support frame in adjacentposition to the angled portion of said guide rail; and

d. a motor mounted on said support frame, driving means connecting saidmotor to said pusher bar, said driving means providing orbital motion tosaid pusher rod upon operation of said motor, whereby said pusher bar ispositioned relative to said angled portion of said guide rail so as toforce the simultaneous insertion of a plurality of tie bars arrangedsuccessively on said guide rail due to the combined orbital motion ofsaid pusher bar and continuous forward travel of said paving machine.

2. An apparatus for inserting tie bars as in claim 1, further comprisingsaid guide rail having a front portion extending parallel to thedirection of travel of the paver, an outwardly twist portion of saidguide rail integrally connecting said front portion and said angledportion.

3. An apparatus for inserting tie bars as in claim 2 wherein said frontportion and said angled portion are defined by a substantially V-shapedchannel, wherein said angled portion diverges generally toward thepusher bar, and the front portion has one leg of said V positioned in ahorizontal plane and the other leg positioned in a vertical plane.

4. An apparatus for inserting tie bars as in claim 1 in combination witha key strip forming device wherein said push bar is mounted on the keystrip forming device in an angular position relative to the direction ofinsertion of the tie rods into the pavement substantially parallel tosaid angled portion of the guide rail, the push bar mounted on saidframe so as to simultaneously stroke a plurality of successivelyarranged tie rods, each of which are progressively inserted through thekey strip and into pavement as the paver moves continuously forwardrelative to the pavement.

5. An apparatus for inserting tie bars as in claim 1 wherein saiddriving means comprises two sprocket wheels eccentrically attached toopposite ends of the push bar, each of said sprockets being driven by acooperating sprocket chain which is driven by said motor.

6. An apparatus for inserting tie bars as in claim 5 wherein each ofsaid sprocket wheels are mounted on a shaft, a connecting platerotatably attached to an eccentric of each shaft, and the pusher barrigidly attached at each end to said connecting plates whereby rotationof said sprocket imparts or bital motion to said pusher bar so as tostroke the tie bars as the paver continuously moves forward relative tosaid pavement.

7. An apparatus for inserting tie bars as in claim 5 further comprisinga chain cover mounted on said support frame and partially surroundingsaid sprocket wheels and associated support chains, an elongated portionof said chain cover having one end securely attached to the push bar,the opposite end of said elongated portion cooperating with a dependingflange of said cover so as to partially surround the sprocket wheels andchains during orbital movement of the push bar.

8. An apparatus for inserting tie bars as in claim 7 wherein theelongated portion of said chain guard is made from a flexible materialand has its opposite end securely attached to the chain guard.

9. An apparatus for inserting tie bars as in claim 7 wherein saidelongated portion of said chain guard is made from a substantially rigidmaterial and has its opposite end engaging the depending flange of saidchain guard by means of a slip joint.

